FY05 NEA Grants to Orchestras

April 21, 2005, Washington, D.C. - The National Endowment for the Arts awarded 118 grants to orchestras through the Grants for Arts Projects categories in FY2005, totaling $2,999,500. Awards to all arts disciplines through the categories of Challenge America Fast-Track Review Grants, Learning in the Arts for Children & Youth, and Access to Artistic Excellence numbered 1,724 and totaled $40.8 million.

Congress appropriated $121.3 million to the NEA in FY2005. In addition to the grants awarded through the categories of Challenge America Fast-Track Review Grants, Learning in the Arts for Children & Youth, and Access to Artistic Excellence, FY2005 awards include the following:

In 2005, the National Endowment for the Arts awarded grants through the program Challenge America: Reaching Every Community. Grants were awarded primarily to small and mid-sized organizations for projects that extend the reach of the arts to underserved populations. Each grant is for $10,000. A total of 83 grants were awarded to support projects in dance, design, literature, media arts, multidisciplinary, music, musical theater, opera, presenting, theater, and visual arts. The FY05 Challenge America: Reaching Every Community grants included 20 awards to orchestras

Congress requires that 40% of NEA grant funds be made available directly to the states; $40.1 million has been awarded through Partnership Agreements to state and regional arts agencies. Orchestras, in turn, benefit from grants at the state and local level.

The NEA provided $800,000 in FY2005 support for Folk Arts Infrastructure and $1.1 million for Literature Fellowships.

Support for Arts on Radio & Television totaled $3.85 million and included a $35,000 grant to Capital Concerts for a nationally televised broadcast of a patriotic concert featuring the National Symphony Orchestra. Awards for Arts on Radio & Television related to the orchestra field included grants to support public radio programs From the Top, St. Paul Sunday, and Performance Today.

FY2005 grants for Summer Schools in the Arts numbered 25 and totaled $756,326.

FY2005 grants for Save America's Treasures, a partnership of the NEA, the National Parks Service, and other federal agencies, totaled $2.2 million. Grants support preservation and/or conservation work on nationally significant intellectual and cultural artifacts.

NEA funds are also allocated to national initiatives, including Shakespeare in American Communities, NEA Jazz Masters, American Masterpieces, Operation Homecoming, and NEA Arts Journalism Institutes.

Click on the following links to see lists of grants to orchestras and parent organizations of orchestras. Grants for programs related to the orchestra field are also included. Complete lists of grant amounts and project descriptions for awards in all disciplines and categories may be found on the NEA web site.